Bracelets
by AzulaTano
Summary: While his family frequently teases him about them, Douglas has a reason for wearing so many bracelets. They shield him, covering up parts of his painful past. Possible triggers, tread with caution.
**Okay, so this a cute little one shot I wrote that has been floating around in my head for a while. Tasha and Douglas don't have nearly enough screen time together, but I feel there would be some great stories between them**

 **Warning: Possible triggers regarding suicide and depression.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Lab Rats.**

At first, Tasha was not that excited about the newest addition to the Davenport household. After a few months of adjusting, she slowly grew accustomed to the former evil genius living in their guest room.

With him around, she had less cooking to do, less errands to run, and less problems to solve— even though he did created many more for the others to clean up. He seemed to genuinely care about the safety of the family, and worked his hardest in the crisis to make sure they were okay. And that was fine for her.

Regardless of his eccentric tendencies, Douglas became a member of the family. A member of her family.

But the moment she realized that crazy maniac implanted bionic technology into her precious little boy, their relationship regained it's former tension.

Anyway, it was about one in the afternoon when Tasha made it home from the station. The kids were at school, Donald was at a conference, and Tasha was looking forward to an afternoon at home to herself. The only thing she was not expecting was a grown man sitting on her couch watching television.

"What are you doing here?" Tasha groaned.

Douglas shrugged. "Just watching TV. Is that a crime?"

"Only if you're doing it," Tasha huffed.

Douglas sighed and set down his snack. "Look, Tasha, I get that you're still a bit mad at me-"

"A bit mad?! I am still furious with you Douglas!" Tasha growled.

Douglas remained silent as Tasha stocked into the kitchen. For the week, Douglas had learned that was the best way to handle angry Tasha: do nothing to further aggravate her and let her cool off.

But today genius just could not suppress his snarky inner demon. "Well, I did what I thought was best for Leo,"

Tasha turned dead in her tracks and glared at her brother-in-law. "You did what _you_ thought was best. Any sane person wouldn't resort to sticking robot parts into an injured child!"

"Okay, maybe you would have handled the situation differently, but you weren't there Tasha. The kid would have never been able to use his arm again if I hadn't used my technology," Douglas asserted.

"If you hadn't used your _technology_ , then my son wouldn't keep getting thrown into dangerous situations!" Tasha spat.

Douglas sighed. "Tasha, you do realize that long before I came around your son had already been getting himself into trouble. All I did was give him a way to protect himself when he does get into trouble,"

Tasha narrowed her eyes. "The danger was caused by bionics. Leo, just trying to be a good friend and brother to Adam, Bree, and Chase, kept getting put in harms way because of their bionics,"

"It isn't Adam, Bree, or Chase's faults-"

"Oh, I know," Tasha snorted. "It's yours. If you never would have put experimental technology into three innocent children then none of them would have ever been put into any of these dangerous situations,"

This managed to shut Douglas up.

"You are the reason Adam, Bree, Chase, and now Leo are constantly risking their lives for the greater good. You were Adam, Bree, and Chase's father. But you lost that title when you decided that your dreams were more important than their safety. That's why Donald took them from you, it's why they can't even call you Dad, it's why-"

"I get it, alright!" Douglas snapped, obviously upset now.

It was not Tasha's objective to get Douglas so worked up, but she did. She really just wanted to rant off some steam, and now, watching Douglas storm off like a hurt child to his room, Tasha was starting to feel a little guilty for throwing all of Douglas' past sins right back into his face.

Tasha decided to give him a few minutes to cool off. So she straightened up the room, and waited. After about ten minutes, Tasha begrudgingly headed up the stairs. She did not necessarily want to apologize to him, but her conscience was saying down on her. As a result, she found herself in front of Douglas' bedroom, knocking on the door. "Douglas?"

"Go away!" The inventor huffed from behind the wooden door.

Tasha rolled her eyes. "Douglas, I need to talk with you,"

"Well, I don't want to talk to you!" Douglas whined, reminding Tasha of Leo when he was young.

"Douglas, if you don't open this door I will," Tasha threatened.

"Just leave me alone!" Douglas shouted.

Tasha grumbled a few choice words and opened the door regardless of his protests. Her breath got caught in her throat when she saw Douglas sitting on his bed, wrapping new bracelets around his wrist. It wasn't the bracelets that got her attention though. It was the red scars that were on the insides of his wrists.

"D-Douglas," Tasha whispered. "Where did those come from?"

Douglas rolled hs eyes. "They're my bracelets, okay? I would never steal any of yours-"

"No, I'm not talking about bracelets. I'm talking about those scars. On your, on your wrists. What happened?" Tasha asked carefully.

Douglas shifted uncomfortably. "It's nothing Tasha. Just please, just leave and forget that you ever saw these,"

"You know I can't do that Douglas," Tasha huffed.

"Why not?" Douglas moaned.

Tasha motioned towards his wrists. "Because that isn't normal Douglas, it is reason for me to be concerned,"

"You don't need to be-"

"Yes I do Douglas! I have every right to be concerned about you," Tasha ranted. "You are a member of this family, of my family. So when I see something like this, I have to pry!"

"I'm not a teenager Tasha!" Douglas huffed.

"No, but you are my brother," Tasha argued.

Douglas raised an eyebrow. "Brother in law, you mean,"

"Nope. Brother. So you need to listen to me when I say I am concerned," Tasha told him.

Douglas just shrugged and sat back. "Fine, be concerned. But you need to stay out of it,"

"I can't stay out of it until you tell me what happened," Tasha told him. "I need to make sure you are okay,"

"It happened a long time ago, okay Tasha? These are scars, not fresh wounds. So let it go, okay?" Douglas pleaded.

"If you won't tell me what happened maybe Donald will," Tasha threatened with a sigh.

Douglas' eyes creased out of fear. "Tasha, please don't talk to Don about this. It will only make things worse,"

"If you don't want to talk to Donald about it, talk to me about it," Tasha replied, taking a hold of Douglas' hand. "Now, when did this happen?"

"About, about 13 years ago," Douglas murmured.

Tasha nodded. "And what else happened 13 years ago?"

Douglas shrugged. "A lot,"

"Was, was that when Donald took…" Tasha started.

"Yeah, that was when Don took Adam, Bree, and Chase away from me. I lost everything," Douglas admitted. "So on June 3rd, I made myself disappear,"

"June 3rd, isn't that when you faked your death?" Tasha asked.

Douglas looked up at her curiously. "Yeah, how did you know?"

"Donald told me," Tasha answered. "Well, he told me that was when it was. He never told me exactly how you, exactly how you…"

"Pulled it off?" Douglas finished with a slight smirk. "I wasn't even trying to fake my own death, to be honest. I just saw an opportunity and took it. Due to the circumstances, everyone believed it,"

"Douglas, what circumstances?" Tasha asked quietly.

"Because, because after Donald took the kids away from me, I was very distraught. And, and I was very upset," Douglas told her, his voice quivering.

Tasha held his hand firmly, nodding for him to go on.

"So, so on June 3rd I tried to take my own life. I tried, but I failed. The paramedics that found me saved my life, but on the way to the hospital the ambulance crashed, and I was able to get out before the others. We were about ten feet from a rather large drop, or a small cliff, and I was able to make my escape. Due to my previous actions, they all assumed that I had jumped and ended myself,"

"Douglas-"

"But I didn't." Douglas told her. "I knew that with everyone thinking I was dead, it would be easier for me to find them. And I did, but it was too late. They were already Donald's kids,"

"I'm sorry Douglas," Tasha whispered.

Douglas brushed it off. "It is not your fault Tasha. It's over,"

"Is it?" Tasha asked.

"What do you mean?" Douglas asked.

"Is it over? For you? Do you still ever find yourself, you know, going to that dark of a place?" Tasha asked.

Douglas took a deep breath to keep any tears from spilling out and gave Tasha a nod. "No, I'm good now. Okay?"

"Okay," Tasha murmured.

"So, now that you have your explanation, can we just go on and forget this conversation ever happened?" Douglas asked.

Tasha thought for a moment. "I won't forget about it, but I won't tell anyone else. As long as I don't have to,"

"Have to?" Douglas echoed in confusion.

Tasha nodded. "Yes. But you need to promise me that if you ever, and I mean ever start to feel that way again, you need to get me immediately, okay?"

"Okay," Douglas replied, slightly smiling.

"I mean it Douglas!" Tasha huffed. "Any time, just get me. Or Donald, or even any of the kids. We all care about you, you know that right?"

Douglas rolled his eyes. "Of course I know that,"

"Douglas," Tasha warned. "I'm being serious. You can't hide everything behind your five layers of bracelets,"

"But they are so stylish!" Douglas whined.

Tasha smirked. "You can keep them on literally, but I am speaking figuratively. You don't have to hide your feelings or your past,"

"Tasha!"/ "Mom!"/ "Were home!" Came calls from downstairs.

"Sounds like the kids are back," Tasha smiled.

"We better go make sure they don't raid the fridge then," Douglas said, getting up and heading for the door. "Thanks, though," he told her before they left the room.

"Your welcome," Tasha smiled, squeezing her brother's shoulder before the went downstairs to handle their crazy for teenagers.

 _El Fin._

 **Please leave a review and tell me what you think, I hope you all enjoyed it!**


End file.
